Training boosts SMEs

A HUNDRED and twenty small to medium enterprises (SMEs) in Porgera and local contractors with the Porgera Joint Venture (PJV) are now aware of their tax obligations following a five-day workshop facilitated by the Internal Revenue Commission (IRC) Highlands regional tax centre.
The workshop at Suyan in Porgera in September was through an initiative of the Porgera Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI) in partnership with the economic programmes unit of PJV’s community development section.
Mt Hagen IRC tax centre manager Mark Kolowa highlighted that Porgera businesses had very low compliance levels when it comes to tax obligations.
“We are here to tell you about your tax obligations as registered companies.
“When you get your statement of account, you will see that compliance level is very low, meaning you probably don’t know what you are doing or you are not properly advised about the requirements and implications of the IRC tax policy,” Kolowa said.
Kolowa and Wabag tax centre manager Reke Nita delivered the workshop covering fundamental areas such as mandatory taxation obligations of the IRC taxation regime and recent government legislation change and its impact on local SMEs.
The sessions also delivered information on processes, systems and requirements.
In all, the workshop focused on ensuring that local SMEs understood the processes, systems and requirements and implications of the IRC taxation policy and to guide local contractors in completing all relevant tax compliance forms through a practical sample illustration.
PJV superintendent business development Daniel Sosi said the workshop was considered relevant to ensure that PJV contractors were compliant with relevant tax obligations.
The IRC team expressed concern that over 90 per cent of local businesses that attended were non-tax compliant and re-emphasised the need for businesses to comply or face penalty.
Local contractor Robert Alembo said they were not aware of a lot of the areas covered in the workshop and it was a real learning experience and a real need for local businesses to be fully informed of their tax obligations.
“The workshop was a real eye opener.
“Many of us are not knowledgeable of these tax requirements and most of us have been getting the wrong advise from middle persons and have been paying a lot to have our taxes sorted as registered businesses, only it had not been done right and not in compliance,” Alembo said.